Universal ledger

ABSTRACT

The present invention provides systems and methods for tracking obligations incurred between individuals. The method may include receiving a request from a first party, where the request includes an expense incurred by the first party for the benefit of a second party. The method may also include providing a notice of the request to the second party and receiving an acceptance from the second party to assume an obligation associated with the expense. The method may further include associating the obligation with the second party and associating a benefit with the first party. The obligation and/or benefit may be substantially equal in value to the expense. The method may additionally include interfacing with a social network service to provide the social network service with information about the obligation and/or the benefit.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.14/143,964, filed Dec. 30, 2013, and entitled, “UNIVERSAL LEDGER,” whichis a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/008,393, filedJan. 18, 2011, issued as U.S. Pat. No. 8,620,799 on Dec. 31, 2013, andentitled, “UNIVERSAL LEDGER.” The entire disclosure of the aboveapplications are hereby incorporated by reference, for all purposes, asif fully set forth herein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Verbal agreements, both large and small, are often entered into betweenfriends, coworkers, and/or associates. Often, one or more obligationsresult from such verbal agreements. For example, coworkers or friendsmay go to lunch where one of the coworkers or friends may accept to paythe lunch bill for the other coworkers or friends. In paying the bill,it may be expected that the non-paying coworkers or friends will returnthe favor at a future date by either paying for a future lunch orrepaying the friend or coworker that covered the bill. Obligations mayalso arise in other circumstances, such as paying for movie tickets,loaning money, paying for gas, etc. Over time an individual may havenumerous obligations for which repayment is expected. These numerousobligations may result in a significant amount of debt owed to others.However, these obligations may be hard to remember or keep track of,especially when they are numerous, comprise small values, and/or arosein the distant past. Sometimes such obligations remain unsettled orunpaid due to one or more individuals forgetting about the obligationsand/or an individual believing that a returned favor constitutesrepayment. Similarly, individuals may differ as to what constitutesrepayment and/or to what extent an obligation is repaid or settled.

On a nationwide or worldwide scale, these unsettled or unpaidobligations may represent a significant amount of unsettled debt.Further unsettled or unpaid obligations may be the source of friction inrelationships between friends, coworkers, and/or associates and/or mayimpede future relationships between such individuals. For example, afriend or coworker may have a difficult time asking for settlementand/or repayment of an owed obligation. Similarly, an individual thatowes an obligation may feel harassed by a friend or coworker that iscontinually asking for settlement or repayment of an obligation even ifthe individual plans on settling the obligation. In extreme cases,unsettled obligations may result in a termination of a friendship orassociation. In less extreme cases, unsettled obligations may causefriends, coworkers, and/or associates to be hesitant in providing futurefavors for individuals with unsettled obligations. For example, a friendmay be less willing to pay for lunch when an obligation remainsoutstanding. Repayment or settlement of obligations may be furthercomplicated as associations become more distant and/or strained. Forexample, the difficulty in settling obligations may increase if acoworker leaves or loses their job and/or if a friend moves out of town.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides systems and methods for trackingobligations incurred between individuals that may be associated with asocial network service. According to one embodiment, a tracking systemfor tracking such obligations may include a communication interface thatenables the tracking system to interface with the social networkservice. The tracking system may also include a processor and anon-volatile memory that include instructions that may direct theprocessor to perform one or more operations. The operations performed bythe processor may include receiving a request from a first user of thesocial network service, where the request includes an expense incurredby the first user for the benefit of a second user of the social networkservice. The operations may also include providing a notice of therequest to the second user and receiving an acceptance from the seconduser to assume an obligation associated with the expense. The obligationmay be substantially equal in value to the expense.

The operations may further include associating the obligation with thesecond user and associating a benefit with the first user. The benefitmay be associated with the expense and may be substantially equal invalue to the expense. The operations may additionally includeinterfacing with the social network service via the communicationinterface to provide the social network service with information aboutthe benefit and/or the obligation. The operations may additionallyinclude receiving an acceptance from a third user of the social networkservice to assume an additional obligation associated with an expenseincurred by the second user for the benefit of the third user. Theoperations may further include associating the additional obligationwith the third user and associating a benefit with the second user. Theoperations may further include transferring the benefit associated withthe second user to the first user to settle at least a portion of theobligation associated with the second user.

The operations may further include receiving a settlement from the thirduser to satisfy at least a portion of the additional obligation,providing the settlement to the first user, and reducing the benefitassociated with the first user by the value of the settlement. Theoperations may further include updating a first tally associated withthe first user to reflect the benefit and updating a second tallyassociated with the second user to reflect the obligation, where thefirst tally and second tally include a sum of the benefits andobligations associated with the first user and second user respectively.

The request provided by the first user may also include an additionalexpense incurred by the first user for the benefit of a third userassociated with the social network service. The operations mayadditionally include providing a notice of the request to the third userand receiving an acceptance from the third user to assume an obligationassociated with the additional expense. This obligation may besubstantially equal in value to the additional expense and theoperations may additionally include associating the additionalobligation with the third user. The operations may additionally includeassociating an additional benefit with the first user that issubstantially equal in value to the additional expense and interfacingwith the social network service to provide the social network servicewith information about the additional benefit and/or the obligation.

The request provided by the first user may further include an expenseincurred by a fourth user for the benefit of the second user and/orthird user. The acceptance from the second and/or third user may includean additional acceptance to assume an additional obligation associatedwith the expense incurred by the fourth user. The operations mayadditionally include associating the additional obligation with thesecond and/or third user and associating a benefit with the fourth userthat may be substantially equal in value to the expense incurred by thefourth user.

The operations may additionally include receiving a settlement requestfrom the second user that includes an expense incurred by the seconduser to satisfy at least a portion of the obligation. The operations mayadditionally include providing a notice of the settlement request to thefirst user and receiving an acceptance of the settlement request fromthe first user. The operations may additionally include reducing theobligation of the second user and/or the benefit of the first user by anamount substantially equal to the expense incurred by the second user.The operations may further include receiving settlement funds from thesecond user to satisfy at least a portion of the obligation,transferring the funds to the first user, and reducing the obligation ofthe second user and/or the benefit of the first user by an amountsubstantially equal to the settlement funds.

According to another embodiment, a method for tracking obligations mayinclude associating a first party with an obligation tracking networkthat is configured to keep an account of obligations incurred betweenindividuals in the obligation tracking network. The method may alsoinclude receiving a request from the first party, where the requestincludes an expense incurred by the first party for the benefit of asecond party. The method may further include providing a notice of therequest to the second party and receiving an acceptance from the secondparty to assume an obligation associated with the expense, where theobligation may be substantially equal in value to the expense. Themethod may additionally include associating the obligation with thesecond party and associating a benefit with the first party, where thebenefit may be substantially equal in value to the expense.

The method may additionally include updating a first tally associatedwith the first party to reflect the benefit and/or updating a secondtally associated with the second party to reflect the obligation, wherethe first tally and the second tally include a sum of the benefits andobligations associated with the first and second parties respectively.The method may additionally include providing a social network servicewith information about the obligation, the benefit, the first tally,and/or the second tally. The method may additionally include displayingthe benefit and/or first tally on a first profile associated with thefirst party and/or displaying the obligation and/or second tally on asecond profile associated with the second party.

According to another embodiment, an obligation tracking system may becommunicatively coupled with one or more social network service thatprovide social networking between individuals and the obligationtracking system may be configured to perform one or more operations totrack obligations incurred by the individuals. The operations mayinclude receiving a request from a first user of a first social networkservice. The request may include an expense incurred by the first userfor the benefit of a second user of a second social network service. Theoperations may also include providing a notice of the request to thesecond user and receiving an acceptance from the second user to assumean obligation associated with the expense, where the obligation may besubstantially equal in value to the expense.

The operations may further include associating the obligation with thesecond user and associating a benefit with the first user, where thebenefit may be substantially equal in value to the expense. Theoperations may additionally include providing the first social networkservice with information about the benefit and providing the secondsocial network service with information about the obligation. Theoperations may additionally include receiving a settlement from thesecond user to satisfy at least a portion of the obligation, providingthe settlement to the first user, and providing the first social networkservice and the second social network service with information about thesettlement. The first social network service and the second socialnetwork service may be different social network services.

The operations may additionally include associating the settlement withthe first user and the second user, updating a first tally associatedwith the first user, and updating a tally associated with the seconduser, where the first tally and second tally include a sum of benefits,obligations, and settlements associated with the first user and seconduser respectively. Receiving a settlement from the second user mayinclude receiving funds from the second user and providing thesettlement to the first user may include transferring the funds to afirst account associated with the first user. The first account may bemaintained by the obligation tracking system.

Alternatively or additionally, receiving a settlement from the seconduser may include receiving funds from the second user and providing thesettlement to the first user may include providing an identifier to thefirst user in response to receiving the funds, receiving the identifierfrom the first user, and providing the funds to the first user inresponse to receiving the identifier. In addition, the operations mayadditionally include receiving a notification instruction from the firstuser, where the notification instruction directs the obligation trackingsystem to notify the second user to provide the settlement.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the appended figures, similar components and/or features may have thesame numerical reference label. Further, various components of the sametype may be distinguished by following the reference label by a letterthat distinguishes among the similar components and/or features. If onlythe first numerical reference label is used in the specification, thedescription is applicable to any one of the similar components and/orfeatures having the same first numerical reference label irrespective ofthe letter suffix.

FIG. 1 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an embodiment of anobligation tracking system.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified block diagram of another embodiment ofan obligation tracking system.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified block diagram of an embodiment of amoney transfer system.

FIG. 4 illustrates an embodiment of a user profile that includes anindicator of the user's obligations and/or benefits.

FIG. 5 illustrates an embodiment of a ledger associated with a user'sprofile that may be used to track obligations and/or benefits associatedwith the user.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a method for tracking obligationswith an obligation tracking system.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a method for tracking and/orsettling obligations with an obligation tracking system.

FIG. 8 illustrates an embodiment of a method for settling obligationswith an obligation tracking system.

FIG. 9 illustrates a computer system that may be used to implement thesystems and methods described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides systems and method for trackingobligations incurred between individuals. The obligation tracking systemmay be used with one or more social network services so that informationcan be exchanged between the obligation tracking system and the socialnetwork services to track obligations. As used herein, the term“obligation” may refer to any type of favor and/or repayment that isowed to an individual or is owed by an individual. For example, anobligation may include a promise to pay for a meal the next time friendsget together or may include repayment of funds between individuals, suchas the repayment of money lent by a friend. Similarly, the term mayinclude other promises, such as the promise to watch a friend's dog inexchange for paying a bill or helping a friend fix a car in exchange forborrowing the car. Essentially, an obligation may include anyresponsibility or duty that a person has for or toward another personthat results from some sort of agreement between the individuals. Theterm “benefit” is also used herein to generally describe an obligationfrom the perspective of a recipient of an obligation. In other words, abenefit is a credit, payment, or reward that results when an obligationis settled or repaid. For example, when an obligation involves a friendagreeing to pay for another friend's meal at a future date, theobligation is the responsibility to pay for the meal and the benefit isthe free meal that results. The terms “credit” and “debt” may also beused herein to describe specific benefits and obligations that involvethe transfer of funds.

The obligation tracking system may allow individuals to easily track andsettle obligations. Obligations may arise as a result of favors providedand/or expenses incurred by one individual on behalf of anotherindividual. For example, the obligation tracking system may recordobligations between individuals and keep an updated tally on thebenefits and obligations for each individual. The obligation trackingnetwork may keep information about the date the obligation was incurred,the amount of the obligation, the person who the obligation benefits,the expense associated with the obligation, whether the obligation wassettled, etc. The obligation tracking system may provide the updatedtally and/or information about each obligation to one or more socialnetwork services so that an indicator of the obligations and/or benefitsfor each individual may be displayed on an individual's profilemaintained by the social network service(s). One benefit among many ofthe obligation tracking system and/or social network service providingupdated information about obligations is the increased likelihood thatobligations will be settled and/or the increased speed at whichobligations may be settled. For example, individuals may tend to forgetthat they owe or are owed obligations. As a result, some obligations maynot be repaid or repayment may be delayed while details about theobligations are worked out (who owes what and how much is owed). Keepingtrack of such obligations removes the burden from individuals toremember when an obligation was incurred, how much the obligationinvolved, and whether the obligation was settled.

The obligation tracking system may keep track of obligation regardlessof the amount of the obligation and/or how the obligation was incurred.For example, the obligation tracking system may keep track ofobligations as small as a quarter lent to a friend to buy gum at a candymachine or may keep track of a thousand dollars spent on behalf of afriend for various car parts. The obligation tracking system may alsoprovide a socially acceptable way for individuals to request repaymentor settlement of obligations. Since obligations are tracked and eachparty is aware of outstanding obligations, it may be easier and/or moreconvenient for an individual to approach another individual and ask forrepayment of an outstanding obligation. For example, tension may arisebetween individuals when repayment is requested because uncertainty mayexist as to the validity of the obligation owed, the amount of theobligation, and/or whether subsequent acts and/or favors constitute fullor partial repayment of the obligation. The obligation tracking systemremoves such uncertainty, thereby making it easier to discuss settlementor repayment. Further, repayment requests may be generated and providedby the obligation tracking system, thereby further decreasing the burdenof requesting repayment or settlement. Such repayment requests may begenerated and provided automatically by the obligation tracking system(e.g., monthly or quarterly reminders and/or when an obligation tallyreaches a predetermined threshold) and/or may be provided upon requestfrom one or more individuals that benefit from settlement.

In one embodiment of the invention, obligations and benefits may be tiedto the obligation tracking system so that repayment of obligations areowed to the obligation tracking system and benefits are received fromthe obligation tracking system, thus further decreasing the difficultyassociated with settling obligations. For example, when the obligationinvolves funds, the repayment of funds can be owed to the obligationtracking system and the disbursement of funds can be provided by theobligation tracking system so that no obligation is directly tied to abenefit within the system. Under such an arrangement, when an individualrepays an obligation, the funds may go into a community pool of fundsout of which the benefits are paid. The disbursement of funds from thecommunity pool may be based on the dates of the various benefits so thatthe oldest benefits are paid first or the funds may be equallydistributed to all persons owed a benefit or the funds may bedistributed in any other manner. In such an embodiment, an individual'spayment of a benefit is not entirely determined upon a specificobligation being repaid or settled and the system becomes the collectorof obligations, thereby removing the burden of collecting fromindividuals within the system.

In another embodiment, each obligation may be associated with a specificbenefit so that settlement of an obligation results in payment of abenefit. For example, if a coworker buys lunch for another coworker, thecoworker buying the lunch may receive a benefit that is directlyassociated with an obligation of the coworker receiving the lunch. Uponsettlement of the obligation, the coworker holding the benefit is paid.The obligation tracking system may allow an individual holding abenefit, such as the coworker that bought the lunch, to withdraw fundsfrom the obligation tracking system prior to repayment of an associatedobligation. The withdrawal of funds may transfer the benefit from theindividual to the obligation tracking system so that the associatedobligation is owed to the obligation tracking system instead of theindividual. In addition, the obligation tracking system may allow anindividual that has accumulated credits or benefits (e.g., theindividual that is owed funds and/or has funds available) to provide thecredits or benefits to others in the system to help repay obligationsthey may owe. For example, an individual may be allowed to provide fundsto a sibling or friend to repay obligations of the sibling or friend.Making funds available in such a manner may result in reduced fees,additional services, and/or other benefits that may be associated withthe obligation tracking system. In yet another embodiment, theobligation tracking system may include a combination of communityobligations and benefits and obligations directly associated withbenefits.

In addition to tracking repayment of funds, the obligation trackingsystem may also track obligations and settlements that do not involvefunds or money. For example, an individual may agree to buy lunch inexchange for a friend watching the individual's dog on a particular day.The obligation tracking system may record the lunch purchase and trackthe obligation until the friend watches the individual's dog, afterwhich the obligation will be noted as settled. When the obligation doesinvolve the repayment of funds, the obligation tracking system may beconfigured to receive funds from one party and provide the funds toanother party (i.e., transfer funds between parties). For example, oneparty may provide funds to the obligation tracking system, such as byproviding cash, credit card, ACH transfer, gift cards, prepaid cards,etc., and the obligation tracking system may provide the funds toanother party, such as by depositing the funds in a bank, providing acheck, providing cash, providing a gift certificate, etc. To receiveand/or provide funds, the obligation tracking system may becommunicatively coupled with one or more financial institutions.Likewise, in an exemplary embodiment, the obligation tracking system maywork with a money transfer system capable of performing wire transfersso that individuals may provide and/or receive cash at any one of manymoney transfer locations throughout the world.

The obligation tracking system may transfer benefits or funds betweenindividuals in the system so that repayment of obligations automaticallyoccurs. For example, when an individual owes an obligation and thatindividual is subsequently credited with a benefit, the benefit may betransferred to the recipient of the obligation as full or partialpayment of the obligation. For example, if individual A owes $25 toindividual B and individual A is credited with a benefit of $10 (e.g.,individual C owes individual A $10), the $10 benefit may be transferredto individual B as partial repayment of the $25 owed by individual A.Upon receiving payment of the $10, the funds may be automaticallytransferred to individual B instead of individual A. If individual Bsubsequently owes individual D $5, then $5 of the $10 may beautomatically transferred to individual D. Because the system mayinvolve numerous individuals each having various obligations andbenefits, the automatic transfer of benefits may be quite complex. Theobligation tracking system, however, may keep a full accounting of eachindividual's benefits and obligations to ensure that obligations arequickly settled and/or that benefits are quickly paid. As a result, asettlement (payment of funds) provided by one person in the system mayend up repaying another person in the system completely removed from thepayor. In addition, the obligation tracking system may receive paymentsfrom a business and/or employer and route the funds into an account ofan individual associated with the business and/or employer. These fundsmay subsequently be automatically routed or transferred to otherindividuals to settle or repay the individual's obligations. These andother advantages of the present invention will become more apparent withreference to the figures.

In addition, the obligation tracking system may aggregate payments fromone or more individuals and/or to one or more individuals to reduce thetransaction fees. For example, if the same funding source is used to payor settle one or more obligations, the payments could be aggregated sothat only a single transaction fee is incurred. For example, ifindividual A owed three separate friends money for various obligationsand individual A used the same credit card to repay each of the friends,the transactions could be aggregated into one transaction to reduce afee charged to process the transaction(s). The obligation trackingsystem could receive the aggregated payment and divide the funds betweeneach of the friends. Further, the details of the aggregated charge couldbe provided via an electronic invoice. For example, an electronicinvoice that details the aggregated charge could be provided toindividual A via email, MMS and/or SMS message, etc.

FIG. 1 depicts a block diagram 100 of an embodiment of an obligationtracking system 102. The obligation tracking system 102 may connect oneor more social network sites or services 104 together. For example, theobligation tracking system 102 may connect a first social networkservice, a second social network service, and an nth social networkservice, where n represents any positive integer value. Such socialnetwork services 104 may provide social networking between individualsor users 106. For example, social network services often provide theuser 106 with a customizable profile that displays information about theindividual. Some social network services may provide business relatedsocial networking, such as by allowing a user 106 to display informationabout a career or profession on the user's profile. Other social networkmay provide recreational or personal related networking allowing friendsand/or associates to maintain connections to each other and allowingusers to display information about themselves and their lives.

The obligation tracking system 102 and/or social network services 104may be used to track obligations incurred between individuals 106associated with the obligation tracking system and/or social networkservices 104. For example, in one embodiment, the social networkservices 104 may provide an indicator that displays the obligationstatus of the user. The obligation status may be a sum of theobligations and benefits associated with the user 106. In addition, theindicator may be colored to show whether the user 106 has a net positiveobligation status (the sum of obligations and benefits is a positivevalue so that overall the user is owed repayment of obligations) or toshow whether the user has a net negative obligation status (the sum ofobligations and benefits is a negative value so that overall the user isresponsible to repay obligations). For example, the indicator may be redto indicate a net negative obligation status or may be green to indicatea net positive obligation status. The indicator may be updateable sothat the obligation status of the user 106 may be dynamically updated asobligations and/or benefits are incurred. In addition, the indicator mayinclude a value amount of the obligations and/or benefits associatedwith the user 106. The value amount may facilitate in other usersdetermining whether to incur expenses and/or provide favors for thebenefit of the profiled user. For example, if the indicator shows thatuser A has a significant net negative obligation status (e.g., −$200),user B may decide not to buy lunch for user A due to an increasedpossibility of not being repaid. In contrast, if user A has asignificant net positive obligation status (e.g., +$200), user B maydecide to pay a bill for user A because of an increased likelihood ofbeing repaid.

The obligation tracking system may also allow individuals or users 106associated with different social network services to track obligationsand/or benefits incurred between those individuals and/or see theobligation status of an individual associated with different socialnetwork services. For example, user A may be associated with a firstsocial network service and may have incurred an expense for the benefitof user B that may be associated with a second social network service.Even though the users are associated with different social networkservices, user A may track user B's obligation that is associated withuser A's expense. Further, user A may be able to see the obligationstatus of user B to determine whether the obligation status is netpositive or negative and thereby decide whether to incur additionalexpenses. In one embodiment, the obligation tracking system 102 mayprovide a user profile and/or an updated tally of the obligations and/orbenefits associated with a user 106 so that the user does not need to beassociated or registered with a social network service 104. For example,FIG. 1 depicts users 106 directly interacting, connecting, or otherwiseassociating with the obligation tracking system 102. The user 106 mayinteract with other users 106 directly associated with the obligationstracking system 102 and/or may interact with users 106 associated with asocial network service 104 to thereby track obligations and/or benefitsincurred between these users. In another embodiment, the user 106 may beassociated with a social network service 104, but may also have aseparate obligation tracking profile maintained by the obligationtracking system 102.

The obligation tracking system 102 may also be connected or otherwiseinteract with one or more merchants 108 (shown as a first merchant andan nth merchant) so that information about expenses incurred can beprovided by the merchants 108 and/or by individuals 106 at the merchant.For example, a group of friends may visit a dining establishment forlunch where one of the friends agrees to cover the lunch bill. Uponpaying the bill, the friend may instruct an employee of the merchant 108(e.g., a waiter or waitress) to submit a request to the obligationtracking system 102 so that a benefit is associated with the friend andan obligation is associated with each person in the group of friendsthat received a free lunch. The employee may submit the request from apoint of sale device or another device of the merchant 108.Alternatively, the friend who purchased lunch may submit the request andmay enter a merchant code or purchase code while submitting the requestthat identifies the merchant and/or the expense incurred at themerchants locations (e.g., identifies that the friend purchased lunch atthe merchant location). The purchase information may be submitted to theobligation tracking system 102 by the merchant 108 and/or may bedownloaded from a database. The obligation tracking system 102 mayfurther be connected to or otherwise interact with one or more financialinstitutions 110 to facilitate payment of an obligation and/or benefit.For example, the obligation tracking system 102 may be connected with auser's bank so that the obligation tracking system 102 may receive fundsfrom and/or deposit funds into a user's account maintained by the bank.The financial institution may be other institutions such as a creditcard network, money transfer system, etc., so that funds may be receivedor provided through any means including: an ACH transfer, credit cardtransaction, check, money order, wire transfer, gift certificate,prepaid card, cash, etc. In an exemplary embodiment, the obligationtracking system 102 may provide and maintain a financial account for theuser.

The connections between the obligation tracking system 102, users 106,social network services 104, merchants 108, and/or financialinstitutions 110 may be any type of connection known in the art thatprovides communication, such as a public network connection (e.g., theInternet), a private network connection (corporate intranet), a wirelesscellular provider's network, etc.

FIG. 2 depicts another block diagram 200 of an embodiment of anobligation tracking system 202. To facilitate communication betweenusers 216 and various entities and/or to perform the various operationsdescribed herein (e.g., tracking obligations and benefits, facilitatingpayment, displaying obligation statuses, providing notifications,transferring obligations and/or benefits, etc.), the obligation trackingsystem 202 may include a communication interface 208, a processor 206,and/or a memory medium 204. The communication interface 208 may enablethe obligation tracking system 202 to interface or otherwise communicatewith various users 216, social network services 210, financialinstitutions, 240, merchants 230, databases 280, etc. The memory medium204 may include non-volatile memory that may include one or moreinstructions for performing the various operations described herein. Theprocessor 206 may receive the instructions from the memory medium 204and may perform the various operations described herein.

As previously described, the obligation tracking system 202 may becommunicatively coupled or connected with one or more social networkservices 210 that provide social networking to one or more users 216.The obligation tracking system 202 may connect with one or more serversof the social network services 210 to provide and receive instructionsand communications therebetween. Users 216 may connect with a socialnetwork service 210 through a computer 250, a wireless device 260 (suchas a cell phone, smart phone, wireless device application, etc.), alaptop, a kiosk, or any other device. The communications and/orconnections may be provided through any type of network known in the artas previously described.

A user 216 may register with the obligation tracking system 202 bydirectly connecting with the system and registering with the system. Theuser 216 may also register through one of the social network services210 that the user may be associated with. For example, the obligationtracking system 202 may be advertised on the social network service 210so that the user 216 can quickly and easily register with the obligationtracking network 202. In one embodiment, the obligation tracking system202 is a feature that is offered by the social network service 210 sothat upon registering with social network service, the user 216 isautomatically registered with the obligation tracking network. Inanother embodiment, when the user 216 sends a request to the obligationtracking system 202 to associate an obligation with a friend, theobligation tracking system may determine whether the friend isregistered with the obligation tracking system and send registrationinformation if necessary. Upon registering with the obligation trackingsystem 202, a user 216 may upload friends or contacts to the obligationtracking system from a friend list and/or contact list (e.g., a friendlist maintained by the social network service 210, a contact list on theuser's wireless device, etc.) or the user may enter friends or contactsmanually. The user 216 may also select payment options for providingfunds to and receiving funds from the obligation tracking system 202.For example, the user may select to provide and receive funds throughACH transfers, credit card, gift certificate, wire transfers, etc. Theuser 216 may also provide preferred methods for notifying the user andor friends regarding obligations and/or benefits. For example, the user216 may elect to have all friends with outstanding obligations notifiedof an obligation and/or payment requested every month or every 6 months.Information about each user may be stored in one or more databases 280communicatively coupled or connected to the obligation tracking system202.

In one embodiment, a user's wireless device 260 may have an applicationthat allows the user 216 to connect with a social network service andupdate or change the user's profile. It may also allow the user to viewhis or her obligation status along with the obligation status of otherusers in the social network service 210 and/or obligation trackingsystem 202. The application may also allow the user 216, in response toan expense incurred by the user, to quickly and easily send a request tothe obligation tracking system 202 to have an obligation associated withanother user. For example, user A may purchase movie tickets for a groupof friends (users B, C, and D). Using an application on the user'swireless device 260, user A may send a request to the obligationtracking system 202 to have a benefit associated with user A in theamount of the movie tickets and an obligation associated with users B,C, and D in the amount of each movie ticket. The obligation trackingsystem 202 may then send a notice of the request to each of users B, C,and D so that these users may accept to assume the obligation. Thenotice may be provided to an email address, to a wireless device (e.g.,via an application of a wireless device, text or IM message, etc.), orthrough any other method. Likewise, the acceptance may be received fromusers B, C, and D in a similar fashion.

User A may upload an image of the movie tickets to the obligationtracking system 202. The image may be associated with the obligationsand/or with the benefit to provide evidence of the expense incurred. Inaddition, the obligation tracking system may record the time and date ofthe expense. The image may be provided via a picture taken with thewireless device, a scanner, or any other imaging application and/orhardware device. Alternatively, the image may be mailed to a provider ofthe obligation tracking system. The wireless device applications mayalso allow the group of friends to check the obligation status of eachfriend to determine who should purchase the movie tickets. For example,if one of the group of friends has a significant net negative obligationstatus, the group of friends may determine to have that friend purchasethe movie tickets to repay some of the outstanding obligations.

As illustrated, the obligation tracking system 202 may connect directlywith a user's computer 250 and/or wireless device 260 to provide theobligation tracking services. In other embodiments, kiosks (not shown)may be provided at various locations to allow users 216 to connect withthe obligation tracking system 202. As previously described, users 216may track obligations for any user associated with the obligationtracking system 202 regardless of whether the users are associated withthe same social network service (or associated with a social networkservice at all). For example, user A, who may be connected with a socialnetwork service 210 that provides business profiles, may connect andtrack obligations associated with user B, who may not be associated withany social network service or may be associated with a social networkservice that provides recreational or personal profiles. The obligationtracking system 202 may also connect or communicatively couple with oneor more merchants to provide the services previously described.

The obligation tracking system 202 may further connect orcommunicatively couple with one or more financial institutions 240 tofacilitate the transfer of funds between individuals. In an exemplaryembodiment, the obligation tracking system may communicatively couplewith a money transfer system 270 that provides money transfer servicesas described with reference to FIG. 3. The financial institutions 240and/or money transfer system 270 may provide and/or maintain financialaccounts 220 for the individuals associated with the obligation trackingsystem 202. Funds can be transferred to and/or from the financialaccounts 220 of the users 216. In one embodiment, the obligationtracking system 202 may provide and maintain the financial accounts 220.In still another embodiment, the obligation tracking system 202 mayconnect or communicatively couple with a business or employer so thatfunds provided to the user 216 from the business and/or employer areautomatically routed to an account 220 associated with the user and/orrouted to another user or the community pool to repay one or moreobligations.

As previously described, there are several ways in which funds can betransferred by or with the assistance of the obligation tracking system202. In one embodiment, the funds are transferred directly between users216 (e.g., between user's accounts 220) so that as one user repays anobligation, another user's benefit is paid. In another embodiment, thefunds received by the obligation tracking system may be put into acommunity pool of funds, out of which the benefits of other users willbe paid so that no individual benefit payment is directly connected toan individual obligation payment. The payment of benefits may bedetermined by the obligation tracking system based on predeterminedcriteria (e.g., oldest benefits paid first, funds are split evenlybetween all benefits, etc.). In such an embodiment, the users 216 may beunaware of when obligations are repaid and by whom. In essence, eachuser may only be aware of a running tally of his or her obligations andbenefits as well as a tally of other users. This embodiment adds a levelof privacy to all users. Such an embodiment may be ideal for situationsinvolving a break down of an association or friendship because thepayment of benefits is not directly connected with the payment ofobligations in a soured relationship.

The obligation tracking system 202 may also be configured toautomatically debit funds from users 216 who may have significantoutstanding obligation balances. For example, the obligation trackingsystem 202 may automatically withdraw funds from a user's account 220 ifthe obligation balance reaches a certain threshold or if one or moreobligations have been outstanding for a certain amount of time (e.g.,$15 owed for over 6 months or 1 year). The obligation tracking system202 may notify a user 216 that the funds will be automatically withdrawnif one or more obligations remains unpaid.

The obligation tracking system 202 may also be configured to provideobligation reminders (pings) to users 216 associated with the system.The obligation reminders or pings can be automatically set by users ormanually provided. For example, a user 216 may schedule the obligationtracking system 202 to provide obligation reminders on the first ofevery month or when obligation balances reach a specified threshold. Theuser 216 can also direct the obligation tracking system 202 to notifyany or all their friends that owe an obligation. A user 216 may alsoprovide reminders manually. For example, a user 216 may wish to receivepayment for one or more benefits. To receive payment, the user 216 maydirect the obligation tracking system 202 to notify any or all friendswho owe an obligation to repay the obligation. Where the funds are keptin a community pool, the reminder may be sent to all users that owe anobligation. One advantage among many of the obligation tracking systemproviding reminders is that the burden on an individual to collect on adebt or obligation is removed and placed on the obligation trackingsystem.

In addition, as previously described, the obligation tracking system 202may allow a user to withdraw funds from a community pool of funds to payfor a benefit. The funds may be withdrawn from the community pool andcredited to the user's account 220. When a user elects to withdraw fundsfrom the community pool to pay for a benefit, the benefit may betransferred from the user to the obligation tracking system. When anobligation associated with the transferred benefit is repaid, the fundsmay go directly into the community pool so that the community pool isreplenished.

The obligation tracking system may offer the various services describedherein via different service packages. For example, the obligationtracking system 202 may offer a gold service package that provides allof the features described herein while also offering a silver or lesserservice package that may provide some, but not all, of these services.The service packages may be available to users 216 based on the paymentof a fee, the length of use of the system, the user's performance inrepaying obligations, the number of obligations and/or benefits incurredin a specified time, etc. In addition, although the obligation trackingsystem 202 has been described as separate from the social networkservices 210, the financial institutions 240, and the money transfersystem 270. Any of these entities may operate and/or maintain theobligation tracking system 202. For example, the obligation trackingsystem 202 may be maintained by the money transfer system 270 so that asingle entity provides both obligation tracking services and moneytransfer services.

FIG. 3 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary embodiment of a moneytransfer system 300 that may be used to transfer funds to repayobligations and/or pay benefits and that may also provide and/ormaintain the obligation tracking system described herein. Such a moneytransfer system may be operated by an entity such as WESTERN UNION andmay be capable of performing a variety of money transfer transactionsbetween users of the obligation tracking system (e.g., from payors topayees). For example, money transfer system 300 may be capable ofperforming wire transfers. A wire transfer may be made from one party toanother party, and may involve the transfer of one or more types ofcurrency. Money transfer system 300 may include one or more agentlocations 320, one or more websites 340, telephone operator and/orinteractive voice response (IVR) systems 350, mobile devices 360, amoney transfer server system 310, a transaction database 314, acompliance module 316, and/or a customer database 318.

Agent locations 320 may represent various kiosks and/or other physicallocations where individuals (payors and payees) may conduct moneytransfer transactions. At agent locations 320, a person, such as aclerk, may serve as a representative of the entity providing the moneytransfer service. Individuals (payors and payees) may conduct moneytransfer transactions by interacting directly with an agent of the moneytransfer entity at an agent location. Transactions conducted at an agentlocation may be conducted using a variety of different payment methodsincluding cash, checks, credit cards, debit cards, stored value cards,etc. Alternatively or additionally, individuals may interact directlywith a kiosk that is part of the money transfer system 300 or the agentmay interact with the kiosk on behalf of individuals.

Money transfer system 300 may include one or more websites. Suchwebsites may allow individuals (payors and payees) to conduct moneytransfer transactions via the Internet. A payor may provide payment andtransaction information to money transfer system 300 via website 340.For example, a payor may provide bank account information or credit cardinformation to money transfer system 300 via website 340. Likewise,payees may receive a payment sent via money transfer system 300 viawebsite 340. For example, it may be possible for a payee to provide abank account number for funds to be deposited via website 340. Website340 may also permit a payor or payee to determine the status of a moneytransfer transaction. If a payor is conducting the money transfer usinga bank account, credit card, stored value card, or using some otherpayment method besides cash, he or she may be able to conduct the entirepayor-side transaction using the website 340. Likewise, if the payee isreceiving the funds via a method other than cash, he or she may be ableto complete his payee-side transaction using website 340. Alternatively,if either the payor and payee is conducting the transaction in cash,some of the information necessary to conduct the money transfertransaction may be supplied via website 340, with the cash beingtransacted at an agent location of agent locations 320.

Money transfer system 300 may also include a telephone operator and/orinteractive voice response (IVR) system 350. Telephone operator and/orIVR system 350 may allow an individual (payor and/or payee) to conductthe money transfer transaction via a telephone call to the telephoneoperator and/or IVR system 350. Individuals may provide the informationnecessary to conduct the money transfer transaction via the telephone,either to a human operator, or to an interactive voice response system.Also, it may be possible to interact with money transfer system 300 viamobile devices 360. Mobile Device 360 may represent various wirelessdevices that can communicate with money transfer system 300. Forexample, Mobile Device 360 may include cellular telephones, smartphones, laptops, tablet computers, etc. Mobile devices 360 may load awebsite to interact with money transfer system 300. Alternatively,mobile devices 360 may run one or more pieces of software, such asapplications or firmware configured to allow interaction with moneytransfer system 300. Via mobile devices 360, it may be possible for apayor to transmit funds to a payee. Also, it may be possible for a payeeto receive funds via mobile devices 360.

Agent locations 320, website 340, telephone operator and/or IVR system350, and mobile devices 360 may communicate with money transfer serversystem 310 via a network 330. Network 330 has been represented as asingle network in FIG. 3. This is for simplicity only, network 330 mayinclude several networks. Further, the network used for agent locations320 to communicate with money transfer server system 310 may bedifferent from the network used by mobile devices 360 to communicatewith money transfer server system 310. The network 330 may include oneor more public networks, such as the Internet, and one or more privatenetworks, such as a corporate intranet. Further, multiple networks maybe used to communicate with money transfer server system 310. Forexample, mobile devices 360 may use a wireless cellular provider'snetwork and the Internet to communicate with money transfer serversystem 310.

Whether an individual (payor) provides funds to the money transfersystem 300 via agent locations 320, website 340, telephone operatorand/or IVR system 350, or mobile devices 360, this may not affect howanother individual (payee) may receive the funds. For example, while apayor may provide funds via website 340, a payee may retrieve the fundsvia one of agent locations 320. It may also be possible for a payor touse the same entity, such as agent locations 320, to conduct a moneytransfer transaction.

Money transfer server system 310 may include one or more varioussubsystems used to conduct a money transfer transaction. For example, acustomer database 318 may be present. Customer database 318 may storebiographical information about the money transfer service provider'scustomers (payors and payees). Transaction database 314 may storeinformation on pending and completed money transfer transactions.Transaction database 314 may identify amounts of funds provided by anindividual, amounts of funds to be paid, the individuals names (payorand/or payee's name), transaction identifiers such as money transfercontrol numbers (MTCNs), the locations where the transactions wereinitiated (e.g., the website, an address of the agent location), thelocation of where the transaction is expected to be completed (e.g.,where the payee is expected to receive the funds), the payor's paymentmethod (e.g., cash, credit card, money order, stored value card, check,etc.), and whether or not various money transfer transactions have beencompleted or are pending.

Compliance module 316 may be used to ensure compliance with governmentregulations. For example, the money transfer service provider operatingthe money transfer system 300 may be required to comply with variousgovernment regulations (possibly varying by country) intended to preventfraudulent and/or illegal use of money transfer systems. An example of acompliance measure that the money transfer service provider may use is alist of persons that the money transfer service provider is prohibitedfrom doing business with published by the Office of Foreign AssetControl (OFAC). The money transfer service provider may be required bylaw to not do business with (e.g., as a payor or payee) personspublished on such a list. Other compliance measures may includegathering additional information about individual conducting a moneytransfer that exceeds a particular amount and/or is international. Moneytransfer transactions being conducted with cash may also includeadditional compliance measures. Therefore, depending on the location ofthe individuals (payor and payee), the amount of the money transfer, andthe payment method, each money transfer may be subject to varying levelsof examination and regulation by compliance module 316.

In one embodiment, the entity that provides and maintains the moneytransfer system 300 may also provide and maintain the obligationtracking system. In another embodiment, the money transfer system 300may be the same system and/or a subsystem of the obligation trackingsystem so that a single system provides the obligation tracking featuresdescribed in FIGS. 1 and 2 and provides the funds transfer servicesdescribed in FIG. 3. One advantage among many of the obligationstracking system and money transfer system being the same system ormaintained by the same entity may be the seamless interaction betweentracking benefits and obligations and settling those obligations andbenefits. The money transfer system 300 may be incorporated into theobligation tracking system and/or social network services so that usersare provided with the option to settle obligations by clicking on a linkto the obligation tracking system and/or money transfer system 300 tothereby perform one or more of the funds transfer operations describedin FIG. 3. In addition, the money transfer system 300 and/or theobligation tracking system may charge a fee for the funds transferservices such as a service fee, transaction fee, advertisement fee,interests, etc.

While FIG. 3 has been described in relation to a money transfer system300, the above description is applicable to and may be used by anyfinancial institution to provide a transfer of funds between individualsassociated with the obligation tracking system and/or social networkservice. For example, the above system may be used by a bank or creditcard provider to transfer funds between individuals. The above systemmay also include one or more accounts into which the funds are withdrawnand/or deposited. The accounts may be maintained by the entity providingthe money transfer system 300 or by any other entity.

FIG. 4 depicts an embodiment of a user profile 400 that may include anindicator 406 of the user's obligations and/or benefits. The userprofile 400 may be provided and/or maintained by a social networkservice and/or the obligation tracking network. The user profile 400 mayinclude the user's name 402, a picture or illustration 404 of the user,one or more advertisements 410, information about the user 408 and/orabout friends or associates connected to the user, the indicator orledger 406 that indicates the obligation status of the user, along withany other information (e.g., business information, personalinformation). The indicator or ledger 406 may be color coded to indicateif the user's obligation status is net positive or negative as describedpreviously. In one embodiment, the indicator 406 may also include avalue that shows the amount that the user is either net positive or netnegative. The value may be a sum of the user's obligations and/orbenefits. The user and/or social network service may control who mayview the indicator 406 for each user. For example, the indicator 406 mayonly be displayed to friends and/or associates that have relatedobligations and/or benefits (past or present) or may be displayed tofriends and/or associates that have participated in the obligationtracking system. In one embodiment, the user may elect to display theindicator 406 to any user that views the user's profile. The indicatormay also show past settlements or repayments that the user has made toreflect the user's payment history and/or ability to settle obligations.

FIG. 5 depicts an embodiment of a ledger 500 associated with a user'sprofile that may be used to track obligations and benefits associatedwith the user. The ledger may be viewable only to the user by clickingon a link on the user's profile, for example by clicking on theindicator 406. The link may provide a separate ledger page or window orproduce a sub-window within the user profile that displays the ledger.The ledger may have several fields that show the various obligationsand/or benefits associated with the user including a name field 502, anexpense field 504, an amount field 506, a date field 508, a settledfield 510, etc. The name field 502 may indicate a friend or associatedthat corresponds with an obligation and/or benefit. The expense field504 may indicate the expense either incurred by the user for a friend orassociate or incurred by a friend or associate for the user. The amountfield 506 may indicate the value of the expense and the date field 508may indicate the date the expense was incurred. The settled field 510may indicate whether the user has repaid an obligation and/or been paidor received a benefit.

For example, the name field 502 may indicate that a friend, Tim, isassociated with a benefit to the user of $5 corresponding with a lunchpurchased by the user on May 12^(th) and that the benefit has not beensettled, or in other words, that the friend, Tim, has not repaid the $5.Similarly, the ledger may indicate that another friend, Deangelo, isassociated with an obligation of the user of $20 corresponding with aparking ticket that Deangelo paid on behalf of the user on June 3^(rd)and that the user has not settled this obligation, or in other words,the user has not repaid the $20. The ledger may highlight outstandingobligations (significant amounts and/or significant dates) and/orbenefits that have not been paid to make the user aware of obligationsthey owe and benefits they have yet to receive. In addition, aspreviously described, the obligation tracking system can be configuredso that as Tim repays the $5, the $5 may be transferred directly toDeangelo (or is split between Deangelo and Tanisha) to repay the user'sobligations.

While the ledger illustrated in FIG. 5 provides obligations and benefitshaving specific monetary values, the ledger may also include obligationsand expenses that do not include monetary amounts as previouslydescribed. For example, the ledger may indicate that the friend, Tim,has an obligation to watch the user's dog on a specific date or at sometime in the future in exchange for the expense incurred by the user forlunch or for some other favor the user provided (e.g., lending Tim acar). The ledger may track this obligation until a notice is providedthat the obligation has been settled (e.g., Tim provides a settlementrequest that the user accepts). Thus, the ledger and obligation trackingsystem are not limited to situations involving the transfer of funds.

FIG. 6 illustrates one embodiment of a method 600 for trackingobligations with an obligation tracking system. The obligation trackingsystem may be configured to keep an account of obligations incurredbetween individuals associated with the obligations tracking systemand/or with a social network service. At block 605, one or more partiesmay be associated with the obligation tracking network. The parties maybe associated with the obligation tracking system by registering withthe system and/or by registering with a social network service. At block610, a request from a first party associated with the obligationtracking system may be received at the obligation tracking system and/orsocial network service. The request may include an expense incurred bythe first party for the benefit of a second party. The request may alsoinclude a registration request for the first party to register with theobligation tracking system. The request may be received through avariety of means including a text message, SMS message, MMS message, anemail, a request provided to an agent of a money transfer system, arequest generated or provided by an application of a wireless device(e.g., an application of a smart phone), an online submission from awebsite of a social network service or the obligation tracking system,or any other method.

The request may also include an expense incurred by the first party forthe benefit of a third party. For example, the first party may pay forlunch for both the second party and the third party. Similarly, therequest may additionally include an expense incurred by a fourth partyfor the benefit of the second and/or third party, such as when the firstand fourth party split the bill to pay for lunch for the second andthird party. In essence the request may include any number of partiesthat incur the expense and any number of parties that benefit from theexpense. The obligation tracking system may assign a benefit to eachparty that incurs an expense and assign an obligation to each party thatbenefits from an expense in relation to the expense incurred and thebenefit received for each party. At block 615, the obligation trackingsystem and/or the social network service may provide a notice of therequest to the second party, third party, and/or other party foracceptance to assume an obligation. The notice may also includeregistration information so that the party may register with theobligation tracking system. At block 620, the obligation tracking systemand/or social network service may receive an acceptance from the secondparty, third party, and/or other party to assume an obligationassociated with the expense. The obligation may be substantially equalin value to the expense incurred for each party and/or may reflect theexpense incurred and the date the expense was incurred.

At block 625, the obligation tracking system and/or social networkservice may associate an obligation with each of the second party, thethird party, and/or other party. At block 630, the obligation trackingnetwork and/or social network service may associate a benefit with eachof the first party, the fourth party, and/or other party that hasincurred an expense. Each benefit may be substantially equal in value tothe expense incurred by a particular party. At block 635, the obligationtracking system and/or social network service may update a tally that isassociated with the first party, second party, third party, fourthparty, etc., to reflect the respective obligations and/or benefits ofeach of the parties. The tally may include a sum of the obligationsand/or benefits of each party. The benefit and/or tally may be displayedon a profile associated with the first party, the fourth party, etc.,such as through an indicator described in FIG. 4. The benefit may alsobe included on a ledger, such as that described in FIG. 5. Likewise, theobligation may be displayed on a profile associated with the secondparty, the third party, etc., through a similar indicator and may alsobe included on a ledger.

In one embodiment, the obligation tracking system interfaces with asocial network service to provide information about the benefit, theobligation, and/or the updated tallies. In another embodiment, theobligation tracking system interfaces with the social network service toprovide information about expenses incurred and the social networkservice assigns benefits, obligations, and/or updates tallies. Inaddition, the obligation tracking system may transfer benefits and/orobligations between parties to help parties settle or repay obligationsand/or receive benefits.

FIG. 7 illustrates another embodiment of a method for tracking and/orsettling obligations with an obligation tracking system. At block 705,the obligation tracking system may receive a registration request from afirst party, a second party, and/or any other party that wishes toregister with the obligation tracking system and/or social networkservice. As described above, in some embodiments the registrationprocess may occur with the request to assign obligations and/or benefitsor may occur as the obligation tracking system provides a notice of suchrequests. At block 710, each party may be registered with the obligationtracking system and/or social network service. At block 715, theobligation tracking service receives a request form a first party toassociate an obligation with a second party. Both parties may beassociated with a social network service or may be associated with theobligation tracking system only. The request may include an expense thatwas incurred by the first party for the benefit of the second party. Asdescribed previously, the request may include additional parties (thirdparty, fourth party, etc.) that may either have incurred an expense orbenefited therefrom; however, the method of FIG. 7 is described mainlywith reference to the first and second party only, although it should berealized that additional parties may be included.

At block 720, the obligation tracking system provides a notice of therequest to the second party for acceptance. To provide the request, theobligation tracking system may acquire information about the secondparty from the social network service and/or through anotherapplication, such as by receiving the information from a friend orcontact list of the social network service or wireless device. Forexample, the first party's wireless device may include an obligationtracking system application that allows the user to send a request andthat provides the party's contact or friend list so that the party mayquickly select friends or associates to assign an obligation or benefitto. The obligation tracking system may provide the notice to the secondparty's cell phone, email account, etc. At block 725, the obligationtracking system receives an acceptance from the second party to assumean obligation associated with the expense. The obligation may besubstantially equal in value to the expense. At block 730, theobligation tracking system may associate the obligation with the secondparty. At block 735, the obligation tracking system may associate abenefit with the first party. The benefit may be substantially equal invalue to the expense.

At block 740, the obligation tracking system may update a tally for thefirst party and/or the second party to reflect the obligation and/orbenefit associated with each party. Alternatively, the obligationtracking system may provide information about the benefit and/orobligation to the social network service, which may update a tallyassociated with the first and/or second party. The tally may be a sum ofthe benefits and obligations associated with each party. At block 745,the obligation tracking system may provide the social network servicewith information about the benefit, the obligation, and/or the tallyassociated with each of the parties. At block 750, the social networkservice and/or the obligation tracking system may display theinformation (i.e., benefit, obligation, tally) on a profile associatedwith each of the first party and/or the second party.

At block 755, the obligation tracking system may receive settlementinformation from the second party. The settlement information mayinclude funds to be used to repay an obligation and/or an indicationthat a favor has been provided and/or expense incurred by the secondparty for the benefit of the first party. For example, the settlementrequest may indicate that the second party paid for movie tickets forthe first party or watched the first party's dog to satisfy anoutstanding obligation. The settlement request may indicate that thesefavor are to be used to settle a portion or all of one or moreobligations associated with the second party. At block 760, theobligation tracking system may provide a notice of the settlementrequest to the first party for acceptance. At block 765, the obligationtracking system may receive an acceptance of the settlement request fromthe first party. The acceptance may indicate that the expense incurredand/or favor rendered by the second party settle one or moreobligations. The settlement request, notice, and/or acceptance may beprovided and received in any manner, such as those previously described.

At block 770, when the settlement request includes a payment of funds,the obligation tracking system may provide the settlement to the firstparty, such as by transferring funds to the first party and/or creditingan account associated with the first party. The account may bemaintained by the obligation tracking system or by another entity, suchas a financial institution. Providing the funds to the first party mayinclude providing funds via an ACH debit, a check, a credit cardtransaction, cash via an agent of a money transfer system and/or theobligation tracking system, loading a stored value card, providing agift card, etc. As previously described, the obligation tracking systemmay also transfer benefits and/or obligations between parties. Forexample, if a third party owes an obligation to the second party and thethird party provides funds to pay the obligation, the funds may betransferred from the second party to the first party to pay anobligation owed by the second party to the first party.

At block 775, the obligation tracking system and/or social networkservice may update a tally associated with the first party and/or secondparty by reducing an obligation associated with the second party by thesettlement amount and/or reducing a benefit associated with the firstparty by the settlement amount to reflect the settlement. Alternatively,the obligation tracking system may reduce an obligation by thesettlement amount and/or reduce a benefit by the settlement amount andprovide information about the settlement and reduced obligation andbenefit to the social network service. Upon receiving this information,the social network service may update a tally associated with each ofthe first and second party. At block 780, the obligation tracking systemmay provide information about the benefit, the obligation, and/or thetally to one or more social network services, which may be the same ordifferent social network services. At block 785, the information (i.e.,benefit, obligation, settlement, tally) may be displayed on a profile ofthe first party and/or a profile of the second party maintained by thesocial network service and/or the obligation tracking system.

FIG. 8 depicts an exemplary embodiment of a method for settlingobligations with an obligation tracking system. The method described inFIG. 8 typically involves the transfer of funds between individuals. Totransfer the funds, the method may use a money transfer system, such asthe money transfer system described in FIG. 3. At block 805, theobligation tracking system and/or money transfer system may receive asettlement from a second party (or other party). The settlement mayinclude the second party providing cash to an agent of a money transfersystem, providing credit card information, a check, etc. The method mayinclude receiving a notification request form the first party thatdirects the obligation tracking system to notify the second party to payone or more obligations. The settlement may be received in response tothe notification being provided to the second party. At block 810, theobligation tracking system and/or money transfer system may provide anidentifier to the second party. The identifier may be used for trackingand/or accounting purposes to resolve any dispute regarding whether aspecific obligation has been settled. The identifier may be anycombination of letters and/or number and/or other symbols and may be amoney transfer control number (MTCN) as previously described.

Alternatively, at block 815, the first party may request to withdraw orreceive payment for a benefit before an associated obligation has beenpaid, in which case the obligation tracking system and/or money transfersystem may provide funds and transfer the first party's benefit to theobligation tracking system and/or money transfer system as previouslydescribed. The first party may request payment of a benefit byconnecting with a website of the money transfer system and/or obligationtracking system, visiting an agent in person, sending a request from anapplication of a mobile device, email, text, etc.

At block 820, the obligation tracking system and/or money transfersystem may provide the first party with an identifier. The identifiermay be in response to receiving funds from the second party or may be inresponse to the first party requesting withdrawal or payment of abenefit. The identifier may be provided via any of the methods describedherein such as email, text, printed receipt, etc. The identifier mayinclude the same alphanumeric number or MTCN provided to the secondparty or may be a different number or MTCN. In one embodiment, thesecond party provides the identifier (MTCN) to the first party uponreceiving the identifier from the obligation tracking system and/ormoney transfer system. At block 825, the obligation tracking systemand/or money transfer system receives the identifier (MTCN) from thefirst party. The identifier may be received in person at an agent of themoney transfer system and/or obligation tracking system, online via awebsite, through email, text, wireless device application, etc. At block830, in response to receiving the identifier, the funds may be providedto the first party through any of the methods described herein. Forexample, the first party may provide the identifier in person to anagent of the money transfer system and receive cash or a check from theagent. The user may also enter the identifier into a website or providethe identifier via text, email, etc. and receive cash from an agent orhave an account of the first party credited with the funds. At block835, a tally associated with the first party and/or second party may beupdated to reflect the settlement.

A brief example of the some of the services of the obligation trackingservices may involve a group of friends going to dinner. The group offriend may check an application on a cell phone to determine which ofthe friends has the most significant obligation status, such as thelargest net negative balance or longest outstanding obligation. Theapplication may link to a profile of each of the group of friendsprovided by one or more social network services or may obtain theobligation status of each of the friends. The group of friends maydetermine which person or persons will cover the cost of the dinner(i.e., determine the payor(s)). After paying the bill, the payor may usean application on his or her cell phone to send a request to theobligation tracking system to have an obligation associated with eachfriend in the group of friends (the payor may also perform this stepbefore paying for the bill, such as after accepting to cover the meal).The payor may scroll through the cell phone's contact list and/or scrollthrough a friend list on the user's social network profile to select thefriends that benefited from the payor's dinner expense.

Upon receiving the request, the obligation status may send a notice toeach of the selected friends indicating that the payor has requestedeach of the friends to assume an obligation associated with the expense.The notice may also include the date and/or expense incurred by thepayor (i.e., the dinner). The notice may be sent to each of the friend'scell phone or to an email account. Upon receiving an acceptance toassume the obligation from each of the friends, the obligation trackingsystem may associate an obligation with each of the friends. Theobligation tracking system may also associate a benefit with the payor.Subsequently, the obligation tracking system may send periodic remindersto one or more of the friends to remind them about the unpaidobligation.

The obligation tracking system may receive funds and/or settlementrequests from each of the friends to settle each of the obligations.Upon receiving funds, the obligation system may transfer the funds tothe payor and settle the obligation with respect to the friend thatprovided the funds. The obligation tracking system may also reduce thepayor's benefit accordingly. To receive and/or provide the funds, theobligation tracking system (or money transfer system) may provide one ormore friends and/or the payor with a MTCN. Upon receiving settlementrequests, such as a request that indicates one or more of the friendspaid for a subsequent meal on behalf of the payor, the obligationtracking system may provide a notice of the settlement request to thepayor. The payor may provide an acceptance or rejection of thesettlement request and the associated obligations and benefit may beadjusted accordingly. This process may continue until all obligationhave been settled and the payor has been fully reimbursed for the dinnerexpense.

The above example is for illustration purposes only and is not meant tolimit the invention in any way. It should be noted that other examplesmay be provide that include additional or fewer steps, that includeadditional or fewer individuals, and/or different obligations. Forexample, the obligation tracking system may include a community pool offunds as previously described and/or may include the transfer ofbenefits between individuals.

FIG. 9 provides a schematic illustration of one embodiment of a computersystem 900 that can perform the methods of the invention, as describedherein, and/or can function as, for example, the money transfer system300 and/or obligation tracking system 100, 200. It should be noted thatFIG. 9 is meant only to provide a generalized illustration of variouscomponents, any or all of which may be utilized as appropriate. FIG. 9,therefore, broadly illustrates how individual system elements may beimplemented in a relatively separated or relatively more integratedmanner.

The computer system 900 is shown comprising hardware elements that canbe electrically coupled via a bus 905 (or may otherwise be incommunication, as appropriate). The hardware elements can include one ormore processors 910, including, without limitation, one or moregeneral-purpose processors and/or one or more special-purpose processors(such as digital signal processing chips, graphics acceleration chips,and/or the like); one or more input devices 915, which can include,without limitation, a mouse, a keyboard and/or the like; and one or moreoutput devices 920, which can include, without limitation, a displaydevice, a printer and/or the like.

The computer system 900 may further include (and/or be in communicationwith) one or more storage devices 925, which can comprise, withoutlimitation, local and/or network accessible storage and/or can include,without limitation, a disk drive, a drive array, an optical storagedevice, a solid-state storage device, such as a random access memory(“RAM”) and/or a read-only memory (“ROM”), which can be programmable,flash-updateable and/or the like. The computer system 900 might alsoinclude a communications subsystem 930, which can include withoutlimitation a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infra-redcommunication device, a wireless communication device and/or chipset(such as a Bluetooth™ device, an 802.11 device, a WiFi device, a WiMaxdevice, cellular communication facilities, etc.), and/or the like. Thecommunications subsystem 930 may permit data to be exchanged with anetwork, and/or any other devices described herein. In many embodiments,the computer system 900 may further comprise a working memory 935, whichcan include a RAM or ROM device.

The computer system 900 can also comprise software elements, shown asbeing currently located within the working memory 935, including anoperating system 940 and/or other code, such as one or more applicationprograms 945, which may comprise computer programs to perform theoperations of the invention, and/or may be designed to implement methodsof the invention and/or configure systems of the invention, as describedherein. Merely by way of example, one or more procedures described withrespect to the method(s) discussed above might be implemented as codeand/or instructions executable by a computer (and/or a processor withina computer). A set of these instructions and/or code might be stored ona computer-readable storage medium, such as the storage device(s) 925described above. In some cases, the storage medium might be incorporatedwithin a computer system, such as the system 900. In other embodiments,the storage medium might be separate from a computer system (e.g., aremovable medium, such as a compact disc, etc.), and/or provided in aninstallation package, such that the storage medium can be used toprogram a general purpose computer with the instructions/code storedthereon. These instructions might take the form of executable code,which is executable by the computer system 900 and/or might take theform of source and/or installable code, which, upon compilation and/orinstallation on the computer system 900 (e.g., using any of a variety ofgenerally available compilers, installation programs,compression/decompression utilities, etc.), then takes the form ofexecutable code.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that substantialvariations may be made in accordance with specific requirements. Forexample, customized hardware might also be used, and/or particularelements might be implemented in hardware, software (including portablesoftware, such as applets, etc.), or both. Further, connection withother computing devices such as network input/output devices may beemployed.

In one aspect, the invention employs a computer system (such as thecomputer system 900) to perform methods of the invention. According to aset of embodiments, some or all of the procedures of such methods areperformed by the computer system 900 in response to processor 910executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions (which mightbe incorporated into the operating system 940 and/or other code, such asan application program 945) contained in the working memory 935. Suchinstructions may be read into the working memory 935 from anothermachine-readable medium, such as one or more of the storage device(s)925. Merely by way of example, execution of the sequences ofinstructions contained in the working memory 935 might cause theprocessor(s) 910 to perform one or more procedures of the methodsdescribed herein.

The terms “machine-readable medium” and “computer readable medium”, asused herein, refer to any medium that participates in providing datathat causes a machine to operate in a specific fashion. In an embodimentimplemented using the computer system 900, various machine-readablemedia might be involved in providing instructions/code to processor(s)910 for execution and/or might be used to store and/or carry suchinstructions/code (e.g., as signals). In many implementations, acomputer-readable medium is a physical and/or tangible storage medium.Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to,non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatilemedia includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks, such as thestorage device(s) 925. Volatile media includes, without limitation,dynamic memory, such as the working memory 935. Transmission mediaincludes coaxial cables, copper wire and fiber optics, including thewires that comprise the bus 905, as well as the various components ofthe communication subsystem 930 (and/or the media by which thecommunications subsystem 930 provides communication with other devices).Hence, transmission media can also take the form of waves (includingwithout limitation radio, acoustic and/or light waves, such as thosegenerated during radio-wave and infra-red data communications).

Common forms of physical and/or tangible computer-readable mediainclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, or any other magnetic medium, a CD-ROM, any other opticalmedium, punchcards, papertape, any other physical medium with patternsof holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH-EPROM, any other memory chipor cartridge, a carrier wave as described hereinafter, or any othermedium from which a computer can read instructions and/or code.

Various forms of machine-readable media may be involved in carrying oneor more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor(s) 910for execution. Merely by way of example, the instructions may initiallybe carried on a magnetic disk and/or optical disc of a remote computer.A remote computer might load the instructions into its dynamic memoryand send the instructions as signals over a transmission medium to bereceived and/or executed by the computer system 900. These signals,which might be in the form of electromagnetic signals, acoustic signals,optical signals and/or the like, are all examples of carrier waves onwhich instructions can be encoded, in accordance with variousembodiments of the invention.

The communications subsystem 930 (and/or components thereof) generallywill receive the signals, and the bus 905 then might carry the signals(and/or the data, instructions, etc., carried by the signals) to theworking memory 935, from which the processor(s) 905 retrieves andexecutes the instructions. The instructions received by the workingmemory 935 may optionally be stored on a storage device 925 eitherbefore or after execution by the processor(s) 910.

It should be noted that the methods, systems, and devices discussedabove are intended merely to be examples. It must be stressed thatvarious embodiments may omit, substitute, or add various procedures orcomponents as appropriate. For instance, it should be appreciated that,in alternative embodiments, the methods may be performed in an orderdifferent from that described, and that various steps may be added,omitted, or combined. Also, features described with respect to certainembodiments may be combined in various other embodiments. Differentaspects and elements of the embodiments may be combined in a similarmanner. Also, it should be emphasized that technology evolves and, thus,many of the elements are examples and should not be interpreted to limitthe scope of the invention.

Specific details are given in the description to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. However, it will be understood by oneof ordinary skill in the art that the embodiments may be practicedwithout these specific details. For example, well-known circuits,processes, algorithms, structures, and techniques have been shownwithout unnecessary detail in order to avoid obscuring the embodiments.This description provides example embodiments only, and is not intendedto limit the scope, applicability, or configuration of the invention.Rather, the preceding description of the embodiments will provide thoseskilled in the art with an enabling description for implementingembodiments of the invention. Various changes may be made in thefunction and arrangement of elements without departing from the spiritand scope of the invention.

Also, it is noted that the embodiments may be described as a processwhich is depicted as a flow diagram or block diagram. Although each maydescribe the operations as a sequential process, many of the operationscan be performed in parallel or concurrently. In addition, the order ofthe operations may be rearranged. A process may have additional stepsnot included in the figure. Furthermore, embodiments of the methods maybe implemented by hardware, software, firmware, middleware, microcode,hardware description languages, or any combination thereof. Whenimplemented in software, firmware, middleware, or microcode, the programcode or code segments to perform the necessary tasks may be stored in acomputer-readable medium such as a storage medium. Processors mayperform the necessary tasks.

Having described several embodiments, it will be recognized by those ofskill in the art that various modifications, alternative constructions,and equivalents may be used without departing from the spirit of theinvention. For example, the above elements may merely be a component ofa larger system, wherein other rules may take precedence over orotherwise modify the application of the invention. Also, a number ofsteps may be undertaken before, during, or after the above elements areconsidered. Accordingly, the above description should not be taken aslimiting the scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising receiving, by a computerserver of a social network service, a request for a user-to-user directcommunication session initiated by a first user, via a first instance ofa social network application executing on a first client device;receiving, by the computer server of the social network service, andfrom the social network application executing on the first clientdevice, an identification of a second user as an intended recipient inthe user-to-user direct communication session; establishing, by thecomputer server of the social network service, the user-to-user directcommunication session between the first instance of the social networkapplication executing on the first client device, and a second instanceof the social network application executing on a second client deviceassociated with the second user; transmitting, by the computer server ofthe social network service, communication input received via the firstinstance of the social network application executing on the first clientdevice, to the second instance of the social network applicationexecuting on the second client device; receiving an indication of a linkselected via the first instance or second instance of the social networkapplication, the link corresponding to a request to transfer fundsbetween the first user and the second user; in response to receiving theindication of the link via the first instance or second instance of thesocial network application, invoking a separate window or sub-windowwithin the first instance or second instance of the social networkapplication to allow the requested funds transfer between the first userand the second user; receiving, via the separate window or sub-windowwithin the first instance or second instance of the social networkapplication, an amount of funds to be transferred; determining, by thecomputer server, a first financial account associated with the firstuser; determining, by the computer server, a second financial accountassociated with the second user; and initiating, by the computer server,a transfer of the amount of funds from the first financial accountassociated with the first user to the second financial accountassociated with the second user.
 2. The method of claim 1, whereinreceiving the identification of the second user comprises receiving aselection of a friend or associate of the first user via the firstinstance of the social networking application.
 3. The method of claim 2,wherein the request to transfer funds between the first user and thesecond user is initiated by the selection of an indicator on a userinterface display screen of the social networking application.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the first instance of the social networkapplication executing on the first client device comprises an instantmessaging software application, and wherein a compatible instantmessaging software application is executing concurrently within thesecond instance of the social network application on the second clientdevice associated with the second user.
 5. The method of claim 1,wherein the first instance of the social network application executingon the first client device comprises an email application.
 6. The methodof claim 1, further comprising: in response to receiving the request totransfer funds between the first user and the second user, providing aninterface via the separate window or sub-window to allow a paymentoption to be selected for providing the amount of funds.
 7. The methodof claim 1, wherein the separate window or sub-window is invoked withinthe first instance of the social network application on the first clientdevice, to allow the first user to transfer funds to the second user,and the method further comprising: in response to receiving theindication of the link via the first instance of the social networkapplication, invoking a separate window or sub-window within the secondinstance of the social network application executing on the secondclient device, to allow the second user to accept the requested fundstransfer from the first user; and receiving, from the separate window orsub-window within the second instance of the social network applicationexecuting on the second client device, an indication of acceptance fromthe second user of the request of the first user to transfer funds tothe second user, wherein the transfer of funds is initiated in responseto the indication of acceptance from the second user.
 8. The method ofclaim 7, further comprising: in response to receiving the indication ofacceptance from the second user, providing an interface via the separatewindow or sub-window within the second instance of the social networkapplication executing on the second client device to allow the seconduser to select a payment option for receiving the amount of funds. 9.The method of claim 1, wherein determining the first financial accountassociated with the first user comprises receiving financial accountdata from the first user via the first instance of the social networkapplication, said financial account data comprising bank accountinformation or credit card information.
 10. The method of claim 1,wherein the request to transfer funds between the first user and thesecond user is initiated by clicking on the link within a user interfacedisplay screen via the first instance of the social network applicationto invoke a money transfer system.
 11. A system for initiating fundstransfers between individuals associated with a social network service,the system comprising: a communication interface configured to enablethe system to interface with the social network service; a processor;and a non-volatile memory medium comprising instructions that direct theprocessor to: receive a request for a user-to-user direct communicationsession initiated by a first user to a second user via a first instanceof a social network service; establish the requested user-to-user directcommunication session between the first instance of the social networkservice and a second instance of the social network service associatedwith the second user; transmit communication input received via thefirst instance of the social network service to the second instance ofthe social network service; receive an indication of a link selected viathe first instance or second instance of the social network service, thelink corresponding to a request to transfer funds between the first userand the second user; in response to receiving the indication of the linkvia the first instance or second instance of the social network service,invoke a separate window or sub-window within the first instance orsecond instance of the social network service to allow the requestedfunds transfer between the first user and the second user; receive, viathe separate window or sub-window within the first instance or secondinstance of the social network service, an amount of funds to betransferred; determine a first financial account associated with thefirst user; determine a second financial account associated with thesecond user; and initiate a transfer of the amount of funds from thefirst financial account associated with the first user to the secondfinancial account associated with the second user.
 12. The system ofclaim 11, wherein receiving identification of the second user comprisesa selection of a friend or associate of the first user via the firstinstance of the social network service.
 13. The system of claim 12,wherein the request to transfer funds between the first user and thesecond user is initiated by the selection of an indicator on a userinterface display screen provided by the social network service.
 14. Thesystem of claim 11, the memory medium comprising further instructionsthat direct the processor to: provide an interface via the separatewindow or sub-window of the social network service to allow a paymentoption to be selected for providing the amount of funds, in response toreceiving the request to transfer funds.
 15. The system of claim 11,wherein determining the first financial account associated with thefirst user comprises receiving financial account data from the firstuser via the first instance of the social network service, saidfinancial account data comprising bank account information or creditcard information.
 16. The system of claim 11, wherein the request totransfer funds between the first user and the second user is initiatedby clicking on the link within a user interface display screen providedby the first instance of the social network service to invoke a moneytransfer system.
 17. The system of claim 11, wherein the separate windowor sub-window is invoked within the first instance of the social networkservice on a first client device, to allow the first user to transferfunds to the second user, and the memory medium comprising furtherinstructions that direct the processor to: in response to receiving theindication of the link via the first instance of the social networkservice, invoking a separate window or sub-window within the secondinstance of the social network service executing on a second clientdevice, to allow the second user to accept the requested funds transferfrom the first user; and receive, via the window or sub-window withinthe second instance of the social network service, an indication ofacceptance from the second user of the request of the first user totransfer funds to the second user, wherein the transfer of funds isinitiated in response to the indication of acceptance from the seconduser.
 18. The system of claim 17, the memory medium comprising furtherinstructions that direct the processor to: provide an interface via thesecond instance of the social network service to allow the second userto select a payment option for receiving the amount of funds, inresponse to receiving the indication of acceptance from the second user.19. A non-transitory computer-readable memory comprising a set ofinstructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causesthe processor to receive a request for a user-to-user directcommunication session initiated by a first user to a second user via afirst instance of a social network service; establish the requesteduser-to-user direct communication session between the first instance ofthe social network service and a second instance of the social networkservice associated with the second user; transmit communication inputreceived via the first instance of the social network service to thesecond instance of the social network service; receive an indication ofa link selected via the first instance or second instance of the socialnetwork service, the link corresponding to a request to transfer fundsbetween the first user and the second user; in response to receiving theindication of the link via the first instance or second instance of thesocial network service, invoke a separate window or sub-window withinthe first instance or second instance of the social network service toallow the requested funds transfer between the first user and the seconduser; receive, via the separate window or sub-window within the firstinstance or second instance of the social network service, an amount offunds to be transferred; determine a first financial account associatedwith the first user; determine a second financial account associatedwith the second user; and initiate a transfer of the amount of fundsfrom the first financial account associated with the first user to thesecond financial account associated with the second user.
 20. Thecomputer-readable memory of claim 19, wherein the separate window orsub-window is invoked within the first instance of the social networkservice on a first client device, to allow the first user to transferfunds to the second user, and comprising further instructions storedtherein which, when executed by the processor, causes the processor to:in response to receiving the indication of the link via the firstinstance of the social network service, invoking a separate window orsub-window within the second instance of the social network applicationexecuting on a second client device, to allow the second user to acceptthe requested funds transfer from the first user; receive, via theseparate window or sub-window within the second instance of the socialnetwork service, an indication of acceptance from the second user of therequest of the first user to transfer funds to the second user, whereinthe transfer of funds is initiated in response to the indication ofacceptance from the second user; provide an first interface via thefirst instance of the social network service to allow the first user toselect a payment option for providing the amount of funds, in responseto receiving the request to transfer funds; and provide an secondinterface via the second instance of the social network service to allowthe second user to select a payment option for receiving the amount offunds, in response to receiving the indication of acceptance from thesecond user.